Buick will launch a new mid-size crossover, dubbed “Envision” in China first, then presumably in other markets. All we can say is “hurry up”.

Given the sales strength of the Enclave and Encore, it’s amazing that Buick isn’t busting their hump to get this thing on sale tomorrow. Then again, China is Buick’s most important market, and their thirst for CUVs seems nearly impossible to satiate. No word on what platform this new CUV will ride on, but the Theta chassis that underpins the Chevrolet Equinox and GMC Terrain is a good bet.

So lets say you are a Buick GMC dealer (the only kind of dealer that is supposed to exist post bankruptcy and back alley stabbing death of Pontiac), are you clamoring for another Buick crossover? Is not the Terrain enough? Should we just take all the unitbody vehicles away from GMC and let them sell BOF SUVs, trucks, and the occasional chassis to be outfitted by a 3rd party?

I was just looking at the GMC build-your-own website and there is already a Terrain Denali for crying out loud. What more do you need?

Agreed, PrincipalDan. If you ask me, the CUV market in the States is very nearly saturated and people are looking for something better–something that doesn’t really exist right now. But that’s another argument.

It will probably cost quite a bit more than the Terrain though. The Encore starts at $24,000, the Terrain at $26,500, and the Enclave at almost $39,000. I bet this will start ~$33,000-$34,000 (around the base LaCrosse price).

There will be overlap with the Denali version, but the styling as you mention will probably be different enough to not cannibalize too much.

I was just thinking about it, but Buick and GMC are completely pointless, GMC even more so.

All the GMC’s are rebadged Chevy’s, and if you’re wondering where you can get a Denali, the LTZ trimmed Chevy’s are a lot like the Denali trims. If you can afford a Denali Yukon XL, then you can certainly afford big chrome wheels and chrome accents.

Just bring the Trax over (Encore clone), and Buick is unnecessary. Also, add an AWD option on the Malibu, since that’s a big reason people go for the Regal. Chevy should be the mainstream brand, and Cadillac should be the luxury brand. These other brands aren’t needed.

While I wish you were right, history shows that gas price increases at best have had only a momentary effect on truck sales. I paid $4.13 for gas today – what’s another $.37? We would need prices at European levels to make a real difference.

Some people just want a step up from a Chevy. Personally I’ve never been a Chevy guy but find GMCs to be mostly pretty good looking.

I think this is a wise move to play off the Terrain’s polarizing (and hideous) design. Hopefully a little effort goes into the interior – both the Equinox and Terrain feel cheap, and the Cadillac is too ‘chromey’. Take a look at the RDX interior and get back to me.

Because some of us (myself included) feel a compulsion that a manufacturer’s line must be “complete;” that is, if they’ve got a full-size CUV and a compact CUV, they must have a mid-size CUV to fill the gap. Everything must be just so, or we start wringing our hands, tossing and turning in bed, and developing other nervous tics.

Note that I said “fill the gap;” if they’ve made a compact and a full-size, there should also be a midsize. But if it’s only a mid and full-size, or compact and mid-size, the third one need not be present to feel “complete.”

Women will buy them. There’s a segment of women buyers who will not buy a GMC based on it not being a suitably feminine car, but will take the same thing with edges polished-smooth and love her new Buick. We saw this same thing with the article where Caroline bought the Spark because it was more appropriately styled for her. Lincoln was headed this same way – the Ford styling is/was more off-putting for women, which they recognized but didn’t handle well with Mercury. (The idea of gendered styling was also Pontiac’s thing there for a long time; GM used to know that they could make a more masculine or more feminine version of the same car and pick up market share; they just got lazy and cynical about it until the Acadia/Enclave.)

The GM brand (I almost dated myself by typing “division”) that needs more CUV models is Cadillac. They have the Escalade and SRX and could probably use crossovers that slot above and below the SRX. All the luxury brands but Caddy seem to be chasing the “luxury compact crossover” market.

Why the hate on Buick? The Buick Theta CUV will be to the Terrain/Equinox as the Enclave is to the Acadia/Traverse. Worth the extra bucks? Leave that up to the buyers. I’d be interested in trading my ‘Nox for one.

It certainly seems like a logical move by Buick to fill the gap between the too-big Enclave and the too-small Encore.

Those of us with long memories will recall that right after GM’s bankruptcy, Buick showed a badge-engineered version of the Saturn Vue with a handsome Buick grill that could have been a 2011 model. There was supposed to be a version with the Chevy Volt drivetrain. Still, it looked like it was just a warmed-over Vue.

The would-be 2011 Buick Vue was thoroughly panned by the automotive press at the time and supposedly received poor evaluations consumer marketing clinics and nothing more ever became of it.